A little while ago a good friend of mine and friend of the site Casey Alexander worked with the theatre company Bread & Puppet, from Vermont, USA. They put on a grandiose operatic show at Place des Arts but I also got a chance to hang out with some of them in a tiny bar on St. Laurent, Barfly. Together we participated in the first Blood Ballet Cabaret show, and several members from the theatre troupe sung and danced between burlesque numbers. This brings me to the Cheap Art Manifesto, which was written in 1984 (ironic?) by the Bread & Puppet group, and which was first brought to my attention by my friend Casey. It goes along the lines of:
“PEOPLE have been THINKING too long that ART is a PRIVILEGE of the MUSEUMS & the RICH.
ART IS NOT BUSINESS!
It does not belong to banks & fancy investors.
ART IS FOOD.
You can’t EAT it BUT it FEEDS you.
ART has to be CHEAP & available to EVERYBODY.
It needs to be EVERYWHERE because it is the INSIDE of the WORLD.
ART SOOTHES PAIN! Art wakes up sleepers! ART FIGHTS AGAINST WAR & STUPIDITY!
ART SINGS HALLELUJA! ART IS FOR KITCHENS! ART IS LIKE GOOD BREAD! Art is like green trees! Art is like white clouds in blue sky! ART IS CHEAP!
HURRAH!”
I think the manifesto was released on a poster stating the above. I’ve put it below and fee free to show and share this idea/image with friends and family and art lovers from all walks of life!
